Life term reduced for Illinois woman in 4-year-old's death

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - An Illinois woman who was to serve a life term for the death of a 4-year-old foster child has been resentenced to 38 years.

The ruling came Tuesday for Heather Lamie after a judge's order earlier this year that the law used to sentence her to life in prison was declared unconstitutional nearly two decades ago. The Pontiac Daily Leader reports that Lamie's previous attorney didn't contest prosecutors' use of the statute, but her new attorney appealed.

Livingston County jurors found Lamie guilty of murder and endangering a child in 2014 for the 2011 death of Kianna Rudesill.

Kianna was a foster child in Lamie's Cullom home when she was taken to a Pontiac hospital for seizure-like symptoms and later died. Authorities said she died from brain injuries and blunt trauma to the head.

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Information from: The (Pontiac) Daily Leader, http://www.pontiacdailyleader.com/